St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-12-11
a Few Leaves Torn From the
History Of Minneapolis Back
in the Fifties.
The Doings of the First City
Council and Officers Of
the Municipality.
A Few OF the First Residents
of the City Still Among
the Living.
A Quarter Of a Century Ago
the City Contained Less
Than 5000 People.

In delving among the ancient records
of the city one comes across strange
thingS-SOmetimes langliable, some
times queer and sometimes startling and
unexpected. If | mistake not, Mime
apOliS began its existence by taking
name among the communities of the
great world, somewhere back about
1S52-Or thirty-fOur years ago. During
that year the Indian title to the lands
on which the West division of the city
now stands was eXtinguiShed; and the
omnipresent ''squatter" being on hand
in force, there was nothing to do but
make plat, file it, atfiX name to the
prospective city, land the procession was
ready to move. This is what actually took
place, although Minneapolis, not being
of an ambitious turn, continued to rank
as a town." and remained under the
government of plain, everyday, old
fashioned board of supervisors down to
a comparatively late period, not taking
on the hOnOrs, pains and penalties of a
city government until 1S67-Or LATTER
the war"
a
them. however. (which appear prOmi-
nently on the official papers of the old
''tOWn" are still attached to living men,
and in one or two rare instances these
men are still engaged in active and
useful business life. The most notable
instance of these, l think, is that of
HOn.-Mai.-Ald. j. B. BaSsett. who
was here at the christening of the in
FAINT municipal Hercules, and still re-
mains actively and very emphatically
identified with every movement, good,
bad or Indifferent, affecting the city of
his home and his affections. 1t is fact
of natural history, known to the hunt
ers of the Western plains, that the old
buffalo bulls are driven from the herd
rs soon as the younger and more active
members of the community are able to
down the patriarchS, and left to die
alone. Maj. BaSsett wears at his belt
great many ScalpS of the younger gen.
Grafton, who have had the temerity to
try to down the old man, and
still walks the streets of the city he has
helped SO much to build, cOntending
with undated strength with the
younger generation for what hOnOrS
and emOluments there are in the mar
ket.
Col. John II. Stevens, Judge At
water, Hon. Eugene NJ. Wilson, the
two Sides, and few others might be
mentioned who were engaged i'll laying
the foundation of the city of MinneapO-
lis during the fifteen years prior to its
assumption of municipal dignitieS.
Among the old papers preserved at the
clerks office is one which is supposed to
contain the names of all persons living
in the town of Minneapolis subject to
poll tax as provided in section of an
MT 01ornrnxrnH M0rob nntifIa1
act to provide for the assessment and
collection OfpOll tax for state purposes"
This list comprises $50 names by actual
count and would seem to indicate that
just about quarter of a century ago
Minneapolis contained nearly or quite
$500 actual bona fide residents.
Among the earliest arrivals of the in
FAINT community there is one name, the
pOSsessor Of which ''joined the silent
majority many years ago, which appears
trequently-that of Cyrus Aldrich.
From the old records we learn that he
was an active citizen from the date of
his arrival in Minneapolis and his old
friends will remember the colonel as a
born leader of men. He was elected
chairman of the board of supervisors in
1858, and only stepped frOm that to the
higher position of member of congress
from the Second Minnesota district
there were only two congressman from
the entire state in those days. in 1861.
Col. Aldrich was our representative in
the lower house at Washington
during the four trying years of the
war period, stepping aside in 1865
TO give place to Hon. l. DOnnelly. of
Nininger. He was afterward postmas-
ter of the city, and died in 1872, during
the Greedy campaign. From a curSory
glance at the records it would seem that
the people of twenty years ago had
some difficulty in securing the neceS-
Sary funds to make much needed i'm
prOvements. For instance, L find in
1866 that certain blOatedly wealthy citi-
Zens of the town desired tOhave Oregon
street graded, and so they agreed Ito
receive from the person OF persons who
perform the labor for the improvement
of Oregon street, between First and
ton of the board of supervisors
of the township of Minneapolis
the sums set opposite their respective
names, of the orders of the said town.
snip of Minneapolis, and pay such per-
son the amount thereof in cash at par
value lit would seem that cash was not
always at par value in those days. for
said orders" Some familiar names are
appended to this. For instance, J.Dean
& Co. took $50 stock in this venture;
William NJ. Harrison took S25; A. A
Pray, So: Paris Gibson, SO, and J.
WambOlt, s.. A gentleman named
"Hoag" is marked in pencil at the bot
tom of the list with figure 49, but as
the suggestion ''Pd," is absent
it is safe to assume that HOag
did not take much stock in MinneapO-
lis town order, or else had not sufficient
leash at par value" to meet the de-
mand. On the back of this document
is the following characteristic indorSe-
ment in hand well known in financial
circles in this city for the past thirty
years: ''Order 2231. ! will give $50 in
expended on Oregon street, commenc-
ing at road leading from house to town.
y. Morrison" Marked "paid," so it is
safe to assume that the work was done
where Mr.. Morrison desired.
In this same year QS66)
find that there was received and ex-
pended for grading all the streets in
MINNEAPOLIS the sum of S6,02l .65. and
the entire detailed statement of the f.
nanciai transactions connected with this
grading covers only two pages of fools
cap.
Following is 4 verbatim copy of an
account rendered during 1856, to the
board lcT labor and goods for the town,
and attached thereto the name of we'll
known and highiy-respected citizen,
still living:
Cash wanted to pay the of Oct.
Jog perch of massey masonry %
for Two cuIyerts. SID w
4Ouse OF Tools. OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. 10 w
Citing plough mended. .............. W